Askew | Two Brothers Brewing Company

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Bottle. Cork and Cage. A little pricey at $11.99 but figured what the hell. Poured into a tulip glass a slightly hazed orange tan color with a 1/2 finger head that settles to collar around the glass. Swirling generates a light tan lively head. Sweet, acetone, vinegar, apple, lemon, and orange all in the nose. The aroma is fairly strong sour wise. Light mouthfeel. Starts with a sweet sour orange acetone type flavor that then goes a little down hill from there. The flavor falls off to a mild bitterness in the back of the throat and has a old woody/earthiness to it which may be from the barrel. Some lace. I’m not completely sold on this one. It’s great to see a new sour but to me this is only slightly better than average.

Excited that my local started releasing some sour projects.
Solid lacing and a pale straw yellow color. A bit hazy but not madly so. The aroma is nicely funky, a dry dusty funk that stays withen bounds, doesn't go super barnyard.
With the first sip this one isn't as sour or tart as i expected but is really approachable for the style and would be a great intro to wilds. the oak is noticable and it's about time their foudure is used for something of this nature. dry and almost hollow it seems at times, dropping out fast and seems high carbed with low viscosity.

A solid wild, falls around average or a bit above, could be great for the right palate. im still really stoked this came from a few burbs over. I am glad to see something new from 2 bros.

Mouthfeel -- The Achilles' Heel of this beer for certain. Light-bodied with incredibly fluffy carbonation. Can you imagine a pillow-fight in your mouth? Tighter, spritzy carbonation would've done this beer wonders.

Overall -- This was a very good showing for Two Brothers in the Wild Ale department, though I wouldn't consider this to be exceptional for its style. With any luck Askew is a portent of sour things to come from Warrenville.

While not remotely bad, Askew is a far cry from the top-tier sour ales of the world.

App- A thin golden yellow with a one finger head to it and only about again an 1/8” of bubbles swirling in my glass. As the bubbles receded, no cling or lace to it.

Smell- So this is where this just came crashing down for me. I expected a lot of funk and citrus and malt and anything else in this glass. It was a nice crisp clean little citrus. Maybe a touch of funk and junk behind it.

Taste- A bit tangy, a bit acidic with a little tartness on the back. The flavors are more citrus and lean towards being not all that defined and hard to pin point to me. The tang is more upfront than anything.

A: The beer pours an amber-orange color with a fizzy off-white head that is not retained very well.

S: A very intense aroma. Lots of grass and lemon which provides a ton of sourness. Fairly heavy on the oak, and a little bit on the musty side. A mild fruitiness as well as a surprising amount of vinegar.

T: The vinegar flavor is quite strong, as is the lactic/lemony sourness. This results in an intensely sour beer. Very, very heavy on the oak as well. A mild cherry flavor provides a bit of fruit. Surprisingly, a little bit of malt on the back end.

M: This is medium in body with a medium level of carbonation.

O: The vinegar character was just a bit too much, and the oak was too strong as well.

A: Cork kind of, um, slips out more than anything. I'm apprehensive; perhaps this beer isn't carbonated. At least we didn't have to fight the cork like the infamous Koopa's Birthday Blend tasting of 2009, where we blended several fine Flat Abbey beverages. But I digress. The pour allays my fears; it is lightly carbed, producing a small film of beige bubbles on top of the beer. The body itself is a golden amber color, slightly hazy upon pouring, but becoming a bit clearer later.

S: White grape, tannins (oak) -- my initial impression is that this is strongly reminiscent of Russian River Temptation. But it's a bit sweeter on the nose, with more pronounced vanilla and apricot. It is also more pronounced on the acetic acid (vinegar) side with an element of moldy mushroom that RR's wild ales have never captured.

T: White grape leads the flavor, segueing into a strong presence of sweet vanilla, tart apricot, green apple, and a touch of lemon. The beer becomes unabashedly sour (vinegar) afterward; it's not irredeemable, but it is a bit out of balance and I find that a flaw. Tannins give the beer a very light astringency.

M: More sour than tannic in the finish, with an after-burn that betrays the imbalanced sourness of the beer. Good carbonation and heft.

O: This is a solid beer; there are some better examples of the style, and quite a few worse ones, but it delivered all the basic expectations for a wild ale.

A: Clear, medium amber color with less than one finger of diminishing white foam head. Scant lacing remains on the glass.

S: Refined malt is transformed in the smell, with moderate tartness that features a balance of rice wine vinegar and pale fruit that is closer to pear than apple. Wood is only barely suggested at.

T: Begins off-dry, with early malt that is true to the smell, appearing significantly transformed. Tart sourness soon follows, complementing the slight sweetness of the malt well. Acidity is mostly acetic through the middle, yet restrained in intensity. Flavors reveal some very well-placed oak into the middle, yielding to some comparatively clumsy apple cider. Mild lactic acidity matures on the palate in the finish that is mostly lacking in bitterness. The only late detraction is the persistent apple cider that dominates in the second half.

M: Thin to medium viscosity, gently acidic and slightly syrupy on the palate, with moderate carbonation.

D/O: This beer starts out seeming like a world-beater Flanders red, but then its flavors take a turn for the disappointing. The overly-simplistic presence of cooked apples lodges on the back of the palate, not as acetaldehyde but just some poorly times esters that interact with the tartness in a certain way. Brett is not a factor in the smell or flavor, with souring bacteria featured much more prominently. Add to the mis-steps that the small bottle costs about $10, and this beer--while not a failure--is not a good value at all.

T- there is an earthiness that I didn't expect, given the aroma. It sort of reigns in the tartness of the beer toward the back of each sip. Not so much hay, wood, or dirt, nor am I sure that it's the brett. It almost seems like a buttery or nutty flavor but it is so odd within the overal profile that I'm really stuck on exactly what it is, or if I like it. It is also maltier than a lot of sour ales. In any case, there is lemon, tart apple, and a nice vinegar finish to it.

M- Very light but not crisp. Light on carbonation compared to a lot of similar ales. I expected it to be drier from the nose.

O- Glad I tried it. I've only had a few offerings by Two Brothers that I have genuinely enjoyed but this one is among their best. We would be lucky if this hinted at bigger and better things to come.

Orange-amber color with a finger of head low retention and lacing. The nose is tart cherries currants and spice, quite powerful. The flavor is citrus cherry, wood some herbal notes a bit earthy and a little acidic, especially on the finish. Medium body, light carbonation, very tart. A bit of a sour beer well crafted and enjoyable but not for everyone.

very excited to try a new offering from the brewery in my own backyard. 375ml corked and caged bottle drank out of my russian river "tion" glass. this is my first beer in the opus series from two brothers.

A- the beer pours out a somewhat hazy apple juice colored body with a little bright white head on top. the head is fast to fade, and leaves behind small spots of lacing.

S- this beer is definitely wild (unlike motan). the first thing i pick up on is acetone, but its not overpowering. there are also vinegar like notes and a little bit of green apple skin wafting from my glass. the nose is pretty subdued.

T- the taste starts out with some of the acetone that i could smell. its still not overpowering. then comes some lightly toasted malts. lemon, green apple, and a hint of cherry follow. slightly funky. the taste isnt as big and bold as i would have liked.

M- the body is on the lighter side. the carbonation isnt as high as i would have liked either. there is a nice dry aftertaste.

D- this is the best new beer two brothers has released since red eye coffee porter a few years ago. i stand by my decision to pick up a few more of these for aging and sending out in trades. not the best example of the style, but its a solid start. keep it up ebels.

Received 3x years ago (almost to the day) from Benpopper in a fantastic trade... Thanks Ben. Shared tonight with COOPMatt and Buckeyeboy. Pours a slightly hazed orange with a short-lived white head... still provides decent lacing.

Nose is big juicy and sour... a tiny bit acetic, but not bad given the age and the time spent in foudre... a bit of red wine and the brett really opened up on a later pour.

Flavor is sour, but not face-melting... surprisingly balanced... something that I associate with tannic pie cherries.. a touch acetic on the back-end and perhaps something that I associate with acetone, but I think Matt poisoned my well with that.

Nice body and carbonation... has held up surprisingly well... Thanks again Ben, we should hook up again some time.